September 4, 2021
Today marked the start of the new Rugby season, and with the 2020/21 season being cancelled at this and all levels below, this was the first competitive match for Chinnor since March 7, 2020 after which the Covid pandemic brought an early end to their 2019/20 season. Co-incidentally these two sides played each other at Sale’s Heywood Road that day, with Sale being victorious 21-19. Sale though, played Moseley on the Thursday evening after, winning 26-10 to end their season.
Chinnor’s last
competitive home fixture was a tense 24-21 victory over Rosslyn Park on
February 29, 2020, a match covered by these diaries. https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2020/02/chinnor-24-21-rosslyn-park-att-725.html
Chinnor finished the
2019/20 season in 4th place in National League One, their highest
ever placement, whilst Sale were in 11th place. However, Sale were
formidable opponents on their own field, with a 10-0-3 record, but were let
down by their poor away form, winning just twice in 12 matches. Indeed, they
lost 31-38 at Chinnor. The sides have met four times in total, with the
previous meetings being in 2018/19, where again both results were home wins,
28-21 at Chinnor and 31-22 at Sale. Perhaps on this form line, a home win might
be expected today !
One major connection between
the two sides is flanker Dave Seymour, who started as a junior at Chinnor
before moving onto Saracens and then made nearly 200 appearances for Sale
Sharks before finishing his career with Sale FC.
Sale FC are under the
same ownership as Sale Sharks, the professional side of the club, but are
separately run, with the Sharks being ring-fenced. That said, there is some
player movement between the two sides, and England International Tom Curry played
5 matches in 2016/17 when Sale were in National League Two North ! Fortunately
for Chinnor, Faf du Plessis was not playing for them today………..
With no rugby last
season, nearly all of Chinnor’s first team squad left the club in order to play
in the Championship, which being deemed as elite level sport, was permitted to
play a limited season. A number of these players have now returned to the club,
but essentially Chinnor have had to build a new team for this season. I spent
most of the match trying to recognize the players !
In 2020/21, Chinnor
played only three friendly matches, all under the adapted laws of no scrums or
mauls. Home and away matches against Esher were played behind closed doors,
with two away wins, whilst spectators were permitted for a match at Rams, which
the home side won convincingly. The return fixture at Chinnor was postponed
following an outbreak of Covid in the Chinnor camp.
Chinnor went into this
match having played two warm-up games, losing 15-17 at home to Welsh Premier
Division side Carmarthen Quins, and then winning 19-17 at fellow National
League One side Blackheath. On the other hand, Sale had played 4 pre-season
friendlies, all against lower division sides, beating Rotherham, Sedgley Park
and Fylde but also losing to Sedgley Park. However, it is always dangerous
trying to read too much into pre-season results.
The Sale matchday
squad for today’s encounter included 7 players who featured in the match from
March 2020, including fly half Chris Johnson, who was the third highest points
scorer in the league that season with 164 points. Ex-London Irish centre Fergus
Mulchrone scored 10 tries and winger/fullback Tom Brady scored 6 tries. In
contrast, the only Chinnor player who appeared that day was flanker Willie Ryan, although four
players from that line-up are still with the club but were not available for
selection through injury.
Tickets for
the match were £15 for non-members, £10 for members, £5 for Students and Under
16’s free. Chinnor were encouraging spectators to purchase their tickets
on-line rather than pay at the gate, and the club is aiming to be cash free by
the end of the season. Parking is free, as are the match programmes.
A burger
was £6, a steak and ale pie £4, a sausage bap £3 and a sausage roll £2.50. A
pint of Estrella was £5 but after the member’s discount was applied, was only
£4.25. Other beers on tap were Breakesperes, Warsteiner and Guinness. There was
also a bouncy castle for the kiddies.
The weather
was dry and cloudy, with temperatures around 18 degrees, but the infamous
Chinnor strong breeze was present for much of the match !
I was
probably the only person who wore a face mask to enter the ground, and there
was little evidence that we are still in a pandemic. However, I was able to
find plenty of space to watch the match without anyone near me.
Chinnor got off to a dream start, full-back Oscar Heath burst through a gap in the Sale back line and strode over the line to put the home side ahead in the first minute. Caolan Ryan’s conversion made it 7-0.
It was 14-0 after 7 minutes when Clementson
crashed over after a series of drives after a line-out, and Ryan again
converted.
In a
cracking start to the game, Sale then scored a try of their own, spinning the
ball wide after winning their line-out, for Brady to dive over in the corner.
Johnson made an excellent conversion from the touchline to make it 14-7 after
just 11 minutes.
A minute
later Sale centre Robbins made an excellent break to threaten the Chinnor 22,
and although the attack came to nothing, the Sale backs were looking sharp.
Despite a lot of grey hair in the back-line, it was deceptive !
In the 18th
minute Chinnor though they had scored from another close-range drive and at
first it looked as if the referee had awarded a penalty try. Instead, it was
the first example of a rule change for this season where being held up over the
line results in a drop-out from the goal-line to the defending team rather than
a 5 yard scrum to the attacking team.
Sale then
lost their own line-out midway in their own half, and they then infringed at
the ruck to give Ryan a straightforward penalty to increase the lead to 17-7
after 20 minutes. Chinnor started to apply more pressure but Sale survived a
series of attacks on their goal-line. However, the home side won a scrum
penalty against the head, and Ryan slotted over another simple penalty to make
it 20-7 after the half-hour.
Sale
produced another slick backs move four minutes before the interval, but were thwarted
by a good tackle near the corner, and when the ball was reworked, a Sale forward
knocked-on under very little pressure. The visitors compounded this error
shortly after when they lost another line-out and with the Chinnor backs
showing they could also play a little, Heath’s behind the back pass saw Hammond
make a great pick-up off his toes and run down the touch-line, before playing
the inside pass to give scrum-half Carter an easy run-in. Ryan made a fine
conversion from close to the touch line to make it 27-7 at the break
From the
restart, Chinnor knocked on, giving Sale the chance to pressurize the Chinnor
line but after yet another error from the forwards, Chinnor were able to clear,
but at the cost of an injury to fly half Ryan, who had to be replaced.
Sale
continued to be camped in the Chinnor 22, but the home side had a stroke of
fortune when a poor clearing kick hit the referee, and a scrum had to be given
to Chinnor and deprived Sale of a good attacking opportunity.
A potential
pivotal moment occurred after 50 minutes. Centre Grose made a tremendous break
and offloaded to Bourton who was stopped just short of the try-line. As Chinnor
tried to play the ball quickly, a loose pass went to no-one in particular and
was fly-hacked clear. The Sale backs raced after it, and after another boot
forward by Metcalf, Morris won the foot-race to score close to the posts and
Johnson converted to bring the score to 27-14. A proverbial 14 point swing if
ever there was one !
Another example
of a new rule occurred in the 58th minute when a Chinnor kick
forward stopped in the in-goal area. After waiting for it to bounce beyond
their line, Sale touched down, but rather than getting a drop-out on their 22,
they received a drop-out from their own goal-line.
Sale
fashioned another good attacking position, but another fumble spoilt the
chance, and after another fumble in the
62nd minute, Chinnor winger Davies burst through a couple of tackles
but Bourton was held-up for another goal-line drop-out, which unlike in Rugby
League was not taken from under the posts.. Sale full-back Metcalf was hurt in
stopping the try but stayed on the pitch despite some obvious discomfort.
Chinnor
finally secured their 4 try bonus point in the 67th minute. After
several drives were kept out, South African lock Brockschmidt eventually crossed
the line, which was just as well as he chose to ignore the three man overlap
outside him. Bourton, who is on loan from Ealing Trailfinders, took over the
kicking duties to make the score 34-14.
As the Sale
side gathered under the posts, the measure was clear. “Let’s get two more tries
for the 4 try bonus point”. With 5 minutes left they grabbed their third try, scoring from a rolling maul after a 5 metre
line-out, Onansanya being credited with the try. With no time to waste, Johnson
simply put the ball down and immediately struck a fabulous conversion from out
wide. 34-21
Sale tried
to run the ball in the closing stages, but found no way through the Chinnor
defence, and another error conceded a penalty just inside their own half. Bourton’s
long-range effort sailed just wide, and the referee, who had an excellent game,
blew for full time and a 5 point bonus point win to Chinnor
There wasn’t
much between the two sides, but Sale made too many handling errors, especially
their forwards, and were poor at the lineouts. However, if their backs continue
to play with the same inventiveness they should be able to record a few
convincing wins, especially at home.
Both sides
were guilty of over the top celebrations when the other side made an error or
gave away a penalty. It’s perhaps understandable if, say, there has been some great work at a ruck but it’s
a bit ridiculous when some-one knocks on with no-one near him !
In summary
though, it was good simply to be just able to watch a game of rugby, and it was
very enjoyable !
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FGICJOn0Js
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